Interactions - November/December 2017

is separate from the acceptability dimension.

Figure 3 shows the items pertaining to aesthetics that were part of the original item pool but did not load consistently across devices in the factor analyses and thus do not appear in the WEAR Scale. While these items have not been tested as serving as their own scale for the construct of aesthetics, they would be a sound starting point for the development of such a measure.

Such a measure might also reveal sub-dimensions (or factors) in the same way that the WEAR Scale revealed a two-factor structure.

A CHANGING SOCIAL WORLD

Whether reciting Shakespeare on stage or putting on a wearable, you are engaging in a performance—“an intentional action executed by an individual with the awareness of spectators” [ 5]. As we rush through our daily lives, it is easy to forget how much and how frequently we are weighing the reactions of others as we present ourselves to the world. Technology has been increasingly permeating our lives for decades. Smartphones, while usually not attached to the body, have certainly impacted our desires and fears. Visible body-worn devices will become a greater part of our social world and who we are. How will they change your performance on life’s stage?

Endnotes

1. Goffman, E. The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life. Penguin, 1990.

2. Worsley, H. 100 Ideas That Changed Fashion. Laurence King, 2011.

3. Kelly, N. The WEAR Scale: Development of a measure of the social acceptability of a wearable device. 2016.

4. DeVellis, R.F. Scale Development: Theory and Applications. Sage Publications, 2012.

5. Rico, J. and Brewster, S. Usable gestures for mobile interfaces: Evaluating social acceptability. Proc. of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2010, 887–896.

Norene Kelly earned a Ph.D. in human-computer interaction from Iowa State University in 2016. Her dissertation developing the WEAR Scale won a Research Excellence Award. Currently she works from her home office in Des Moines, Iowa, as a UX scientist for UEGroup, a Silicon Valley firm specializing in designing breakthrough user experiences.

→ norene@uegroup.com WEARscale.com

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cause as a driving distraction was the most prominent factor in making them socially unacceptable. On the other hand, the highest-scoring item was This device could help people—respondents thought that both Watch and Glass had the potential to be beneficial. This data provides insight for the wearables industry: If your device is a driving distraction, know that’s going to be problematic for its social acceptance; and if your device helps people, then that will be a boon to its social acceptance.

An upcoming study will measure three more wearables, with some extra twists, such as altering the description and color between groups to test the effect on social acceptability. Also, we’ll be comparing responses from Midwesterners versus people in Silicon Valley to assess regional differences.

Such ongoing research will work toward establishing industry standards. This will help to create baselines for both the two factors and the individual items, which will then aid researchers and designers in using the scale to inform design. For example, if the item This device would enhance the wearer’s image scored low, then an important follow-up with survey respondents would be to find out why. It may be the appearance of the wearable itself, or it may be the placement on the body, or it could even be the name of the device. The WEAR Scale is essentially a homing tool that can guide the development of a wearable toward social acceptance.

ASPIRATIONS AND FEARS

So, back to the world being a stage and us performers. When we alter our bodies or put something on our bodies, what are the main concepts we are thinking about when we are weighing whether we are acceptable for the social world we inhabit? The exploratory factor analysis identified two such concepts—that is, the 14 questions clustered around two factors (Figure 2). Eight of the questions pointed to the notion that in our performance on life’s stage, we have aspirations. Thus, an acceptable wearable aligns with those aspirations and is consistent with our self-image.

Just as with any clothing, accessory, or body modification, a wearable

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is a form of communication by the wearer that is directed at other people.

The wearer wants the device to be consistent with her or his self-image and to receive a positive reaction from one’s “tribe.” The other six questions were about fears. In other words, an acceptable device does not raise privacy issues, is not considered inappropriate, does not cause others to perceive the wearer as rude, and does not cause offense or harm.

BUT WHAT ABOUT LOOKS?

The factor analysis that produced the WEAR Scale suggests that the aesthetic dimension of acceptability is its own construct, separate from social acceptability and deserving of its own measure. So while items addressing aesthetics did not make the final WEAR Scale, some of the 14 items do indirectly address how the wearable looks. For example, This device would enhance the wearer’s image does not explicitly ask whether the device is fashionable, but it does assess a similar concept: Is it an improvement to the wearer’s image?

Yet aren’t fashion, aesthetics, and style important in gauging the social acceptability of a wearable? Well, imagine shining silver headwear that looks like a museum piece; it is a thing of beauty, but does that mean you’ll wear it to the grocery store, that it is useful and feels like “you”? Or imagine a black wristband; it may have zero aesthetic appeal, but it would not make anyone uneasy and may be considered just plain or boring rather than unfashionable. Because a wearable can be fashionable but socially awkward, or stylistically unpleasing but socially neutral, the aesthetic dimension